piercing brown eyes. olive skin and irrepressible sense of confidence. most were sharecroppers, a former slaves and scramble then the red clay fields the promise had withered like the spring grass seared by the summer sun. even his father who gave him that lighter skin never giving him legitimacy. t2 was born a slave and the man who's a identity he may have never known. he moves to birmingham alabama. but ultimately to provide the raw materials for the automobile industry, the manufacturing industry, and i take the liberty with the pulitzer prize-winning book but there's an awful history that is an iconic place for the civil rights struggle. what can dolphus do in birmingham? >> guest: he did not want to be a farmer or sharecropper. this was not segregated. reef being given as representatives but. >> it was not uncommon but someone who wanted to make his mark could do that. he buys property. >> host: so he is an amazing character. and is the most distant relative with this story but also people know him and how you could write about the life of melvenia.